as like the rest of us. Edith is dark, you know.'

Any further discussion of Miss Edith's appearance was stopped by the
entrance of that young lady herself, who was preceded by her mamma.
Lady Beresford received Captain King very kindly, and repeated her
son's invitation that he should dine with them that evening. And had
he seen the Strathernes since his return? And how long did he propose
remaining in Brighton? And which hotel was he staying at?

The fact is, Captain King was still a little bewildered. He answered
as he best could Lady Beresford's questions, and also replied to some
profound remarks of Miss Edith's concerning the rough weather in the
Channel; but all the time his eyes were inadvertently straying to the
younger girl, who had gone to restore Nan's portrait to its place, and
he was astonished to see how this family likeness could extend even to
the pose of the figure and the motion of the hand. He could almost
have believed now that that was Nan there, only he had been told that
the real Nan--no doubt very much altered--was for the time being
staying with some friends at Lewes.

In due time he went away to his hotel to dress for dinner--an operation
that was somewhat mechanically performed. He was thinking chiefly of
what Mr. Tom had told him at the Waterloo Club concerning the young
gentleman who had been warned off by the Vice-Chancellor. He had taken
little interest in the story then; now he was anxious to recollect it.
Certainly Miss Madge did not seem to have suffered much from that
separation.

When he returned to Brunswick Terrace he found that the only other
guest of the evening had arrived, and was in the drawing-room with the
family. From the manner in which this gentleman held himself aloof
from Miss Edith, and did not even speak to her or appear to recognise
her presence, Frank King concluded that he must be Miss Edith's
suitor--no other, indeed, than the person whom Mr. Tom had called
Soda-water. Soda-water, if this were he, was a man of about
five-and-thirty, of middle height, fresh complexioned and of wiry
build, looking more like an M. F. H., in fact, than anything else. His
clothes seemed to fit well, but perhaps that was because he had a good
figure. In the middle of his spacious shirt front shone a large opal,
surrounded with small diamonds.

Captain King had the honour of taking Lady Beresford down to dinner,
and he sat between her and Miss Madge. It soon became appa